HIGHLIGHTS

Karmakar has now qualified for the finals on August 14, after being placed eighth

Dipa Karmakar in action at Rio (Reuters Photo)

HIGHLIGHTS

Dipa became the first Indian female gymnast to qualify for the Games

Karmakar won a bronze medal in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games

Karmakar has now qualified for the finals on August 14, after being placed eighth

When Bisweshwar Nandi caught his first glimpse of the Olympic rings after touching down in Rio with his gymnastics protege Dipa Karmakar, he felt an instant surge of adrenaline.

Within seconds though, that excitement was replaced with shivers down his spine as he realised that his star pupil is shouldering the hopes of a billion people. (RIO 2016 FULL COVERAGE)

"I am under so much pressure. Everyone in India is expecting Dipa to create history in Rio," Nandi told Reuters in an interview after he watched Karmakar soar into the air as she practiced her trademark vault in the Rio Olympic Arena.

"I feel that we are carrying the dreams of a billion Indians who just cannot understand how difficult it is for Dipa to get a medal here," he said.

"Because Dipa won the vault gold in the Rio test event in April, the entire country thinks she will come back home with a medal."

That test event proved to be the making of Karmakar.

After missing out on automatic Olympic qualification by just 0.4 of a point at last year's Glasgow world championships, she made India take notice when she showed off her full repertoire of acrobatic skills in the test event to become the first Indian female gymnast to qualify for the Games.

But in a sport where a toe-length hop forward on landing or a slight bent knee can scupper medal hopes, Nandi knows the margins between success and failure can be paper thin.

Karmakar has now qualified for the finals on August 14, after being placed eighth on Monday.

"This is really giving me sleepless nights because medals can disappear by 0.001 of a point. There is just so much hope and expectation in India, I just don't know how to deal with all this heavy burden," said her coach.

With no apparatus or money available, Nandi utilised his own DIY skills to build some apparatus for Karmakar when she first started out. That involved constructing a springboard from second-hand parts of a discarded scooter and stacking several crash mats on top of each other to make a vault.

"I used to coach boys before and then Dipa came my way. In India, there are a lot of hurdles and complications when a man coaches a woman," he said.

Karmakar followed up winning a bronze medal in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games by becoming the first Indian to reach an apparatus final at the world championships in 2015.

Despite her rather primitive start in the sport, she will be the only gymnast attempting the daring Produnova vault in Rio.

It is a skill so difficult - consisting of a front handspring and two front somersaults - that Karmakar is one of only five women to have landed it in competition.

"A few months ago I barely got any attention in India and now it seems that as far as India is concerned, these Olympics are all about Dipa," said the 22-year-old.

Nervous moments for Dipa's family

Meanwhile, Dipa's father, said the family was nervous as they had no clue about her progress. Poot coverage of the event meant millions of fans, including Dipa's parents, were deprived of the final moments of the vault qualifiers.

"We were watching till 1:30 AM last night but were very nervous as we didn't know the result. We got a call from Kolkata to watch TV this morning," Dulal Karmakar told India Today.

Dulal said he could not speak to his daughter after the qualification because she was exhausted and needed sleep but asserted that the family was happy.

"We are so happy now, the entire family and friends, can't tell you enough." I spoke to her after her event, but we didn't know the result, she went to the Village after that. We haven't spoken to her after the result as she went to sleep."

Meanwhile, Dipa could make a splash in Rio on her August, the day of her finals. It also happens to be her birthday. She turns 23 tomorrow.

"Not only us, the whole country is hoping for a medal nowIt's her birthday on 9th August. We will go to the temple and pray for her."

(With inputs from Shivani Gupta)

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